Yard's Main Union Picks Incumbent

NEWPORT NEWS — Alton H. Glass Sr. is re-elected to lead the group. The vote exposed rifts, but some hope it showed stability needed for '08 contract negotiations.

When Alton H. Glass Sr. beat Arnold Outlaw in 2003 to lead the main labor union at Northrop Grumman Newport News, the two men embraced outside the union hall on Huntington Avenue.

But there were no hugs between the two men this year, when Glass again beat Outlaw, a former two-term president himself, as well as two other challengers early Thursday to win a second term into office.

Supporters of Glass, who won 51 percent of the vote, hope his second straight victory signifies that Local 8888 of United Steelworkers of America has attained needed stability in advance of the next round of contract negotiations with the shipyard management -- in 2008.

"It's time for us all to come together," said Glass, standing outside the union hall at 4 a.m. after his victory. "The election is over, the ballots are counted, and it's time for us to move forward."

But the union's internal divisions, stoked during the pre-election campaign, might need a bit more mending if the union is to be a force at the bargaining table.

Outlaw, who led the union during a 17-week strike in 1999, came in second in this year's voting with 35 percent of the ballots cast. He said Thursday he does not believe the election results, tallied on computerized touch-screens.

"This is not over," Outlaw said. "People will probably say I'm a sore loser, but there were a lot of irregularities, and I will challenge this election. Being a Christian and a man, I can take a loss, but when you cheat me, I get upset. I truly feel that my slate and I, we were cheated."

He declined Thursday to outline what he said were irregularities, saying he was still in the process of compiling them.

Steelworkers Local 8888, with about 6,500 dues-paying members, represents about 9,000 hourly production workers at the country's largest shipyard, a maker of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines for the Navy. It's one of the Steelworkers' largest locals nationwide.

Outlaw asserts he and his team heard a consensus for union leadership change throughout the vast shipyard in recent weeks -- and even on the voting lines Wednesday -- that did not fit with Thursday's final vote count.

Glass did not respond to phone calls Thursday seeking comment.

Glass received 908 votes, according to the official results, while Outlaw tallied 625 votes. Jerry Goode, a former vice president who ran on a platform that he was the one who could best unite the local, came in third, with 186 votes, or 11 percent.

Goode, who expected to do better in the balloting, voiced disappointment that many workers who had promised their support didn't come through. But Goode did win a union representative's position, handling grievances on behalf of other workers. And whatever happened, he said, God must have wanted it that way.

"I'm very thankful for my union rep's position -- that I didn't get a wipeout," said Goode. "We all should unite behind this union."

Walter Haynesworth, making a first run for the presidency post, came in fourth, with 47 votes, or about 3 percent.

The 1,766 workers who voted constituted about 27 percent of eligible voters.

Local 8888 has faced its fair share of internal strife since it began in the late 1970s.

It's a rarity in the 27-year history of Local 8888, for example, that a president wins re-election. Before Glass this year, Outlaw's re-election in 2000 was another exception. The other president to achieve that feat was Eddie Coppedge, who won three terms in the 1980s but took a job at the international union before he finished his last stint.

Glass' team contends his record on bringing in new members is a good one -- with the membership rate at around 74 percent of eligible workers, up from the "low 50 percent range" when Glass took office.

"I think the record speaks for itself," said Darrell Parker, a union member and Glass supporter, after the victory Thursday. "It's been a lot of hard work."

Another Glass supporter, Allen Harville, pointed out that the union's membership did not fall after negotiations in 2004 -- a contrast to past traditions in which workers join before contract talks but get out soon afterward. In fact, he contends, the union is "stronger financially than it has ever been."

Outlaw, however, has said that Glass does not communicate well with members, is averse to criticize the company's management and is not out in front of issues affecting the work force. "They (Glass' leadership team) don't do anything to make themselves visible," added Jim Scull, a union member and former safety committee chairman under Outlaw.

Glass is against Outlaw's practice of speaking with the media about various issues affecting workers. Glass said that he, as the union president, should be the "spokesman for the local."

But Outlaw remains unbowed. "If he's going to be the spokesman and he doesn't speak, what is there for the membership to find out?" he said Thursday.

During the recent campaign, both Outlaw and Haynesworth called on Glass to reveal how he has paid for radio spots and the thousands of glossy, color advertisements that they said looked similar in color and typeface to fliers put out by the union during negotiations.

Glass would not tell the Daily Press after his election Thursday how much his campaign advertising cost, or who paid the bills. *

TOP NAMES

Glass said, "It's time for us all to come together,' after his second consevutive victory Thursday as president of Local 8888.

Outlaw was defeated for the second time. He is a former two-term president.

ELECTION RESULTS

Local 8888 of the United Steelworkers elected a new president Wednesday. Here is the breakout of the votes.